Legon Awakening: Book One in the Legon Series (11 page)

He shook his head. “I’m going to get ready and help
dad for a bit, but after lunch I want to go see Arkin. I need
answers and I think he can give them to me.”

She nodded her head in agreement, got up, and walked
out of his room, shutting the door behind her. He could tell there
was something on her mind. She was normally talkative in the
mornings, and he thought that she would want to talk about the news
of his adoption and his dream, but she didn’t. She seemed
distant.

He knew that his parents had told Sasha about how he
came to their family last night; he could see it in her eyes. She
knew and it scared her. He wondered what that fear was. He wouldn’t
blame her if she was scared of him; after all, if he was marked by
an Elf it would be understandable.

He was on his feet and putting on his work clothes.
He tried to push everything out of his mind. He could feel another
headache coming on and he didn’t want it to get worse. He was
getting so many headaches lately; he made a mental note to talk to
his mother about it and walked out of his room and down the
hall.

It was early, and only Sasha and he were up. Sasha’s
door was shut and Legon figured she was getting ready for her day.
He walked down to the lower level of the house, went out the door
and turned to the shop. W
ork will be good for me. It will take
my mind off things for now,
he thought. There wasn’t much to do
today, but Legon began to work as if he had a week’s worth to do.
After an hour or so his father came in.

“How are you today, son? Sasha told me that she
mentioned the Elf thing to you, and you should know that I don’t
buy into it.” He looked tired and Legon figured no one in the
family had slept well last night.

“I’m fine, I guess. I don’t know, maybe I’m not fine.
It just seems like…” He struggled, not sure what to say. It was
hard to fathom the news that he had received yesterday and this
morning, and he was feeling like his life up to this point had been
a lie, but he didn’t want to say this to his father; he knew this
would cause unnecessary pain.

“I guess I just don’t know what or who I am now. I
mean, before, I was a butcher in Salmont, and in a few months I was
going to be a butcher somewhere else, but now…”

“You’re my son, like you have always been and always
will be. It’s not your blood that matters; it’s what you make of
yourself.” His father spoke with just the right blend of warmth and
sternness. Legon began to talk but was cut off. “You are not a
trade. You are a person. You are a person, and a good one at that.
You cannot look at your life as just the work you do. If you do you
will lose your mind. This life is about the relationships you have
and lives you touch. So what if you might be part Elf? That’s
nothing to be ashamed of. If anything you should be proud.”

“Yeah, but the queen hates the Elves…”

His father gave a hoarse laugh. “What, and you think
she likes humans? We’re animals to the Iumenta, that’s it. The
Elves are kind and I wish it was them that we served, not the
Iumenta. All they are is a drain on the land.”

Edis walked over to Legon and placed his hands on his
shoulders. “You are my son.” His tone had finality in it, a tone
that made it clear that there was no greater thing in the world
than to be Edis’s son.

Legon felt himself relax a bit. He hadn’t noticed it
but his whole body had become rigid.

“What is going to happen to me?” he asked.

“What do you mean?” asked Edis concernedly.

“My body - what’s going to happen to it if I am part
Elf? Something will happen, right?” He didn’t say anything about
last night, but after that, Arkin’s theory seemed pretty likely to
him.

“I don’t know. Elves are much different than humans.
Truth be told, I didn’t even know we could have children with each
other. Its Arkin’s theory—he has lots of those. He may know, but I
doubt it.”

“Dad,” Legon began, “how does Arkin know so much? You
have to admit his theories tend to prove accurate.” Edis’s brow
furrowed and Legon could almost see his mind working.

“Honestly, I don’t know, and I don’t want to. Some
things are better left a mystery, in my mind.”

After that they got on with their day. They didn’t
talk much. Legon got the impression that his father was somehow a
little embarrassed by the boldness of his speech. Legon spent most
of the morning away from the front counter as he wasn’t in a mood
to talk to people, but he was happy by the time they went in for
lunch. He had gotten a lot done and wouldn’t need to come back
after lunch, which freed him to go to Arkin’s. When they got in,
Sasha was sitting at the table. She looked surprised to see them
back so early. She got up quickly.

“Is everything ok?”

“Yes, we just got a lot done today,” their father
said, taking a seat.

“Oh, well are you hungry? Do you want something?” she
began to get up and move to the kitchen.

“No Sash, I’m not hungry yet,” Legon said.

His father was looking around the room. “Neither am
I. Where is your mother?”

“Shopping. She said she needed something, I didn’t
ask what.” She paused and looked at Legon. “Are you still going to
see Arkin today?”

“Yeah. Are you still up for going?”

“Yes, if you’re ok with it.”

“You’re more than welcome. I think it would be nice
to have you there. Let me change and we can go,” he said as he got
up and walked to the stairs.

Soon he was out of sight and Sasha looked at her
father. “Is he ok?”

He took his time answering. “I don’t know. I think
so, but I think he just needs understanding and answers right now.
I can give him the understanding, at least.”

Legon came back downstairs in a pair of brown pants
and an off-white shirt. He walked up to the table. “Are you
ready?”

She got up and started to walk to the door. He joined
her and waved to Edis. When they got outside the air was dank. The
previous day’s moisture still clung to the streets and shady part
of buildings. There was activity everywhere. They saw Margaret
walking, red hair bouncing in time with her strides, holding two
large bundles under her arms. They waved at her as she moved along
and she nodded her greeting. They made their way down the streets
of the town until they reached Arkin’s shop.

Up to this point they hadn’t spoken. As they
approached the shop Sasha tugged on his arm. He turned to look at
her; she looked apprehensive. He noticed the dark blue dress she
was wearing seemed to make her eyes look pale and somber, and she
held his gaze for a moment before speaking. “I don’t think you
should tell Arkin about your dream.”

He looked surprised. “Why not?”

“Because there is a lot that we and our parents
haven’t been told, and I know Arkin is a good person, but still, we
don’t really know who we can trust.” As she spoke he could see fear
in her eyes. It was obvious that she was planning on taking every
precaution. The look also told him what had been on her mind for
the last few days. He suspected that she had considered every
possibility she could come up with.

“And how will we know if we can trust him?” For some
reason he didn’t question her unwillingness to trust others. Sasha
was good at reading people and he trusted her judgment.

He also still had the conversation from the other day
in his mind, the day when Arkin seemed unwilling to disclose
information about his hunting trip. He also knew there had to be
something up with the carpenter because of his mother going over to
tend to him. Arkin didn’t make mistakes. He never got hurt, not a
scratch. There was something going on with him—that was for sure.
It could be innocent or it could be bad, but either way it was wise
to not divulge information that wasn’t necessary.

“Good thinking Sash. I’ll follow your lead.”

She smiled a bit and walked to the door. Once again
Legon was shocked by the lack of sawdust in the air. It was after
noon! It should be hard to breathe in the place by now. He also
noticed the table that was there from the day before hadn’t been
touched. The shop looked exactly the same as it had the last time
they were there.

“Arkin? Arkin, are you here?” called Sasha, raising
her voice.

“Oh, hello you two. How are you? I suppose you’re
here for the tea I promised,” Arkin said, walking into the shop
from the back alley.

He smiled tightly at them. He clearly wasn’t happy
they were there.

* * * * *

Sasha noted the lack of dust in his hair and face.
His clothes and apron would always have dust in them from the
previous day’s work, but the lack of it on his face and hair showed
that he hadn’t been working at all today. She found this odd. Arkin
was a hard worker and he had said the other day that he was busy
and needed to get stuff done, but he didn’t look like a carpenter
that had been hard at work.

“Yes, we came for tea,” she said. She figured that he
would ask them to come back another day but she wanted to play this
smoothly.

“Ah… you guys are going to be disappointed, but this
is a bad time. Perhaps next week?”

She broke in. “We know about Legon’s mother.” She
tried to keep her voice conversational.

“You know… Edis and Laura told you then?” he
sputtered.

“We know you were there and we know that you are
busy, but we need to talk to you Arkin. What’s wrong? It’s obvious
that you haven’t been working in the last few days. The air in the
shop and your face are free of dust.” As she spoke she gestured
around the room.

Legon was surprised by the tone in her voice and how
she went from being sweet and nice to formal without skipping a
beat. He could see that she had taken Arkin off guard. He would
have to give in to her requests or face interrogation about
whatever he was up to.

“Ok, ok I’ll talk about how we found you. Let me
close the shop,” Arkin said with resignation. He walked over the
main door and clicked the lock and pulled some blinds down over the
windows.

“Thank you Arkin. What kind of tea do you have?”
asked Sasha sweetly.

Arkin chuckled. “The same as always: mint, or mint.”
He smiled.

“Ooo, I think I’ll have the mint,” said Legon.

“I’m going to change it up and go with the mint,”
chimed in Sasha.

“Ok you two, let’s go in my house. I don’t have
anything for tea out here”

They walked out of the back door and turned right to
walk in the back of Arkin’s house. The inside was immaculate.
Everything had its place. The wood in the house was a light pine,
which was a change from the normal dark color on the inside of most
houses. The air smelled of cinnamon despite the lack of candles or
incense. The house had the same layout as Legon’s, with a large
table in the center of the main room and a kitchen toward the back.
It was in the kitchen that you could see how tidy the house was.
The counter was wiped clean, and all of the knives and other
cooking articles were grouped together in a neat line. Everything
was perfect, and it was obvious that Arkin would see if even one
thing was moved. On either side of the fireplace were paintings of
landscapes of the mountains. Above the mantelpiece there was
nothing. The table at which they sat was made of redwood.

Sasha noticed that the table stuck out in the room.
Everything in the house was light in color but the table. It was
dark and red, drawing your eye when you entered. You couldn’t help
it. The more she thought about the house, the more she realized
that it commanded respect and, moreover, action. The room led you
through it, making you naturally go where the owner wanted. She had
been in this house hundreds of times and never noticed the genius
of it. She began to see that Arkin was much more than a
carpenter.

“So Legon, you have been told how we found you,”
Arkin said, placing cups in front of both of them.

“Yes, and …”

“And you know what your tattoo is, don’t you?”
continued Arkin.

“Yes, and …,” he began, but this time was stopped by
the look on Arkin’s face. It was somber.

“What color is it?” asked Arkin flatly.

Legon began to sputter, but Sasha silenced him by
placing her hand on his. “What color is it supposed to be, Arkin?
It’s a tattoo.” She knew that Legon’s reaction had given away the
fact that his tattoo had changed colors, but she wasn’t planning on
losing control of the conversation that easily.

“Legon, guard your reactions. I don’t know what color
it is, but I would venture to guess red, green or purple.” Sasha
could hear the change in Arkin’s voice. It was obvious that he had
taken control back.

Arkin was impressed with Sasha. She was smart and
noticed more than she let on. She wasn’t as good as him, however.
Maybe in time and with some training, but not yet. “
I have to
figure out what they know,”
he thought. “So what is it?” he
said confidently.

She had lost. There was no way around it. Legon had
given them away. Arkin had been waiting for today. “Purple,” she
said.

“I was hoping you were going to say green.” She could
hear the sadness in his voice.

“Why green? What’s wrong with purple?” she asked in a
calm but commanding tone.

“Green means that you’re not part Elf. Any change in
color means that you are.”

“So what does that mean, Arkin?” asked Legon, looking
agitated but not unsurprised.

“It means that one day the Elf in you will die and
you will be full blooded human. Or the day will come when the Human
part will die and you will be full Elf. The change in color shows
that the Elf side is winning.”

She noted the resignation in his voice; he didn’t
want this to be true. He wanted Legon to be full human, but why?
Elves were immortal. The thought came to her then:
But humans
are unnoticed
. Legon was looking down at his drink. She knew
the same thing was going through his mind. There was no need to ask
Arkin about how or when it would happen; the day would come when he
would change.